Ah that one is called Viru Valge VĂ€gev, where VĂ€gev means Mighty.
Of course when I was a student, I bought alcohol by euros per millilitre of alcohol content to get my moneyâs worth too. Nowadays I buy what I like the taste of, which sometimes ends up being expensive peaty Islay single malt scotch, and sometimes the cheapest gin I can find, to pair with a mediocre tonic. I donât remember the last time I drank vodka neat lol
Itâs almost the same word in Finnish, âvĂ€kevĂ€â which does mean âmightyâ, âstrongâ, but literally itâs basically âfull of (little) folkâ, although idk if Estonian also uses âvĂ€kiâ in the same way but itâs the etymology of vĂ€gev anyhow. As in âthe little folkâ or âfairy folkâ sort of, as anything magical or powerful wouldâve been said to be so. Not that anyoneâs really believed in any sort of fairyfolk for a long time, but just thought it might be interesting, perhaps especially so for a fellow finnic person (and/or Iâm just somewhat interested if this all works in Estonian as well or if youâve read about it idk)
In Finnish folklore, VĂ€ki is the life force that flows in every single living creature and being. It is similar to the concept of mana in Hinduism, life force chi in Chinese culture or the Force in Star Wars. VĂ€ki literally means a group. It describes the power / group or spirits that reside in a certain idea/concept/element or being.
Oh yeah I donât buy the cheapest stuff anymore either. Actually bought fairly expensive rums last winter, tried some out to see whether it was worth it. It definitely is worth it to go at least mid-shelf in most things, and sometimes the top shelf doesnât feel like a waste either.
Vodka neat is kinda horrible, tbh. A good vodka martini with a really smooth vodka, yea. Just vodka, neat? No thanks, canât do it since that one time I drank a little hand sanitizer (non-denatured) in the army. 'Twas like >73% abv. I was fuuuuuccckeeed, uuupp. Luckily I was an NCO and had independence a bit so I went to the neighbouring barracks (just a firedoor in between them, same building) to use their showers for an hour or so (as the barracks was empty 1/3 of the year).
So I donât know about the little folk, but vĂ€gi does indeed mean some kind of unquantifiable strength, force, power. As an adjective (vĂ€gev), itâs closest to âawesomeâ, âmightyâ, âgreatâ. Yes, magical power is also vĂ€gi, but then outside of folklore and mythology, Iâd dare say its meaning could be considered tangentially related to the Finnish âsisuâ? As it sorta describes a personâs, a groupâs, or even a nationâs ability to make things happen in the face of hardship.
Iâve gone shot for shot of neat vodka with alcoholics when I was younger⊠And I was the one still awake after 20 or so shots. But now I canât stand the taste (I donât think I could then either - luckily the guy whose birthday it was, decided to throw all his vodka in the freezer). I donât think Iâve actually tried a vodka martini. Iâve had vermouth neat for some reason, but not a vodka martini. Given that I have half a bottle of some Ukrainian vodka I have no idea what to do with, I might go out and buy a bottle of vermouth to give that a try. Or I might combine it with orange juice later tonight because I already have some of that and Iâm likely working till 5 or 6 AM (home office, software engineer, contracting, not an employee)
Orange juice and vodka is something I canât even sniff anymore, or Fanta and vodka. Itâs just⊠disgusting. This is mostly why I drink rum nowadays, I donât have any traumas associated with it lol
But a vodka martini properly made is nice. The strength should be like 20-30% depending how wet/dry you make it. Some even make them âdirtyâ (this when instead of just adding an olive/orange peel, you actually add a little bit of the brine from the olive jar).
Vermouth neat isnât that bad, but itâs kinda âthickâ so to speak. Rich flavour. The vodka cuts through so well. Idk, itâs just a drink I like when itâs properly made. Fairly expensive to get from bars though. Perhaps not for you idk, although you guys arenât that far away anymore in terms of price difference. It used to be a lot more when you guys werenât in the Euro.
Iâm jealous or a home office though. Or rather a position to use one. Oh well.
I was talking about modern usage of the word in Estonian, where it has less to do with the original magical forces and more about determination, fortitude and drive.
Interestingly, Estonian resources donât mention the little folk. There is of course mentions of the word going back to Uralic roots and the concept of vĂ€gi potentially going back to the Neanderthals, but nothing on little people.
I do love how the English Wikipedia article on the Finnish VÀki mentions vitun vÀki. That one has caused me a lot of grief in life lol
less to do with the original magical forces and more about determination
So⊠do you imagine that Finns still use the connotation from thousands of years ago?
It means the same thing here, more or less. Iâm just talking about where the word comes from, originally. If you just go on the street and start asking / explaining about some magical connotations to regular words, people would be afraid of you, lol.
Finnish wiktionary doesnât know it either. Itâs only when you look at proto-Finnic that youâll get these as connotations. The language from which both of our languages are from.
Usage notes
The sense âpower, strengthâ now exists only in some compounds and derived words, such as vĂ€kivalta (âviolenceâ), vĂ€kijuoma (âalcoholic beverageâ), vĂ€kevĂ€ (âstrongâ), and vĂ€kisin (âforcefullyâ). A transitional sense exists in e.g. sotavĂ€ki, which can be thought to mean either military power or the people in the army; such words may have contributed to the semantic change
Ah that one is called Viru Valge VĂ€gev, where VĂ€gev means Mighty.
Of course when I was a student, I bought alcohol by euros per millilitre of alcohol content to get my moneyâs worth too. Nowadays I buy what I like the taste of, which sometimes ends up being expensive peaty Islay single malt scotch, and sometimes the cheapest gin I can find, to pair with a mediocre tonic. I donât remember the last time I drank vodka neat lol
Juu vÀkevÀÀhÀn se oli.
Itâs almost the same word in Finnish, âvĂ€kevĂ€â which does mean âmightyâ, âstrongâ, but literally itâs basically âfull of (little) folkâ, although idk if Estonian also uses âvĂ€kiâ in the same way but itâs the etymology of vĂ€gev anyhow. As in âthe little folkâ or âfairy folkâ sort of, as anything magical or powerful wouldâve been said to be so. Not that anyoneâs really believed in any sort of fairyfolk for a long time, but just thought it might be interesting, perhaps especially so for a fellow finnic person (and/or Iâm just somewhat interested if this all works in Estonian as well or if youâve read about it idk)
https://littlewomen.medium.com/vÀki-the-power-in-finnish-folklore-abeb0a9d3c04
Oh yeah I donât buy the cheapest stuff anymore either. Actually bought fairly expensive rums last winter, tried some out to see whether it was worth it. It definitely is worth it to go at least mid-shelf in most things, and sometimes the top shelf doesnât feel like a waste either.
Vodka neat is kinda horrible, tbh. A good vodka martini with a really smooth vodka, yea. Just vodka, neat? No thanks, canât do it since that one time I drank a little hand sanitizer (non-denatured) in the army. 'Twas like >73% abv. I was fuuuuuccckeeed, uuupp. Luckily I was an NCO and had independence a bit so I went to the neighbouring barracks (just a firedoor in between them, same building) to use their showers for an hour or so (as the barracks was empty 1/3 of the year).
So I donât know about the little folk, but vĂ€gi does indeed mean some kind of unquantifiable strength, force, power. As an adjective (vĂ€gev), itâs closest to âawesomeâ, âmightyâ, âgreatâ. Yes, magical power is also vĂ€gi, but then outside of folklore and mythology, Iâd dare say its meaning could be considered tangentially related to the Finnish âsisuâ? As it sorta describes a personâs, a groupâs, or even a nationâs ability to make things happen in the face of hardship.
Iâve gone shot for shot of neat vodka with alcoholics when I was younger⊠And I was the one still awake after 20 or so shots. But now I canât stand the taste (I donât think I could then either - luckily the guy whose birthday it was, decided to throw all his vodka in the freezer). I donât think Iâve actually tried a vodka martini. Iâve had vermouth neat for some reason, but not a vodka martini. Given that I have half a bottle of some Ukrainian vodka I have no idea what to do with, I might go out and buy a bottle of vermouth to give that a try. Or I might combine it with orange juice later tonight because I already have some of that and Iâm likely working till 5 or 6 AM (home office, software engineer, contracting, not an employee)
Bro I wasnât really asking.
I was telling you about the history of our language-tree.
Viro is a Finnic language and that is the etymology of Finnic âvĂ€k-/vĂ€gâ
https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/Reconstruction:Proto-Finnic/vÀki
Descendants edit
Sisu is a completely different concept.
Orange juice and vodka is something I canât even sniff anymore, or Fanta and vodka. Itâs just⊠disgusting. This is mostly why I drink rum nowadays, I donât have any traumas associated with it lol
But a vodka martini properly made is nice. The strength should be like 20-30% depending how wet/dry you make it. Some even make them âdirtyâ (this when instead of just adding an olive/orange peel, you actually add a little bit of the brine from the olive jar).
Vermouth neat isnât that bad, but itâs kinda âthickâ so to speak. Rich flavour. The vodka cuts through so well. Idk, itâs just a drink I like when itâs properly made. Fairly expensive to get from bars though. Perhaps not for you idk, although you guys arenât that far away anymore in terms of price difference. It used to be a lot more when you guys werenât in the Euro.
Iâm jealous or a home office though. Or rather a position to use one. Oh well.
I was talking about modern usage of the word in Estonian, where it has less to do with the original magical forces and more about determination, fortitude and drive.
Interestingly, Estonian resources donât mention the little folk. There is of course mentions of the word going back to Uralic roots and the concept of vĂ€gi potentially going back to the Neanderthals, but nothing on little people.
I do love how the English Wikipedia article on the Finnish VÀki mentions vitun vÀki. That one has caused me a lot of grief in life lol
So⊠do you imagine that Finns still use the connotation from thousands of years ago?
It means the same thing here, more or less. Iâm just talking about where the word comes from, originally. If you just go on the street and start asking / explaining about some magical connotations to regular words, people would be afraid of you, lol.
Finnish wiktionary doesnât know it either. Itâs only when you look at proto-Finnic that youâll get these as connotations. The language from which both of our languages are from.